Alternative Day School education
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jewish Education Change Network on -
Andrea, can you say more about what you mean by "alternative Jewish Day schools"? What are you imagining?
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on -
What I would like to see is two-fold, changes in the Jewish side as well as the secular and although I will separate them right here they shouldn't be separated at all..... So, learn more about alternative education, maybe break groupings by age and instead group children by interests and learning styles. I am thinking a bit about the success of Prozdor and would like to see something like it in the day schools. Where the students direct their Jewish learning. I would like to see us move away from measurable skills and work toward a much more difficult goal of helping the students find what is meaningful to them in Judaism. I am thinking a different kind of school altogether, but I am not sure what models are best. I think in day schools we (educators) are working toward teaching environmentalist values but we don't live them, the school doesn't live what it teaches. I would like to see a school with a huge garden used for food preparation in which the students work and cook, where each of those projects is given "academic" priority, so more project based learning using ideas like communities of practice. Day schools also talk about child centered education a lot but I don't see that manifest in the best way possible. What I see, is that child centered ed. becomes about identifying strengthens and weaknesses to best help them succeed in a traditional academic setting, but there is so much more that drives our students. I think a serious arts undertaking by the schools, visual, performance, etc is seriously lacking, as well as outdoor and technical skills. I am swimming in all of these thoughts and am looking for other educators who are interested in such a school.
Jewish Education Change Network said:Andrea, can you say more about what you mean by "alternative Jewish Day schools"? What are you imagining?
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on
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i would like to add that although my ideal dream is to see a totally rethought school, that changes can happen in the Judaic side of any school. I think at the very least it would be wise to take models like Prozdor and apply them to the Jewish day school. Self directed Jewish learning at Prozdor has been hugely successful.
Andrea RC Kasper said:What I would like to see is two-fold, changes in the Jewish side as well as the secular and although I will separate them right here they shouldn't be separated at all..... So, learn more about alternative education, maybe break groupings by age and instead group children by interests and learning styles. I am thinking a bit about the success of Prozdor and would like to see something like it in the day schools. Where the students direct their Jewish learning. I would like to see us move away from measurable skills and work toward a much more difficult goal of helping the students find what is meaningful to them in Judaism. I am thinking a different kind of school altogether, but I am not sure what models are best. I think in day schools we (educators) are working toward teaching environmentalist values but we don't live them, the school doesn't live what it teaches. I would like to see a school with a huge garden used for food preparation in which the students work and cook, where each of those projects is given "academic" priority, so more project based learning using ideas like communities of practice. Day schools also talk about child centered education a lot but I don't see that manifest in the best way possible. What I see, is that child centered ed. becomes about identifying strengthens and weaknesses to best help them succeed in a traditional academic setting, but there is so much more that drives our students. I think a serious arts undertaking by the schools, visual, performance, etc is seriously lacking, as well as outdoor and technical skills. I am swimming in all of these thoughts and am looking for other educators who are interested in such a school.
Jewish Education Change Network said:Andrea, can you say more about what you mean by "alternative Jewish Day schools"? What are you imagining?
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Permalink Reply by Eliot Pearlson on -
Shalom - I am not sure what yor defintion of "alternative day schools" is.... but here in Miami three Hebrew Charter Schools have started and theyare doing quite well. They are paid for by the county shcool system - and teach hebrew, culture and history. Limdei Koshed can only begin at 2:40 when school is officially over. They have reached maximum capacity within weeks of opening. The economy is a big factor. After all, who can afford $17K per child? At 2:40 these charter schools then contract with out side groups (all three hebrew charter schools have chosen orthodox options) to teach tefila, chagim and tanach. Many pulpit rabbis and day school leaders were concerned but it actually took away less than 5% of the the day school kids. I think that this is a new way of approaching jewish education.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on
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Hi Eliot, I know a little about the Charter Schools in Miami and their tremendous success. I am happy to learn more about how they approach the limudei kodesh. I am curious, of the Jewish student population in the schools, how many attend? I think we need all sorts of alternatives in Jewish education. What I am interested in is alternative school day structures, project based learning in multi-aged groupings, and ways of incorporating self-directed learning.
I am also curious about the tuition I just saw at a Sudbury Valley school....$7000 for the first child...that´s amazing, anyone know how they do it?
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Permalink Reply by Eliot Pearlson on
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RE: Limdei Kodesh: they are NOT allowed to teach anything what-so-ever even remotely "JEWISH"! In fact one of their literature text was pulled because it related vocabulary to siddur and liturgy. It is our perception in south Florida that the number one cause for Jewish kids NOT to be in day schools is the cost. Charter programs are free, and the afterschool judaica component costs a very reasonable and manageable $1400 a year per child for 8 hours a week (and it can be tax deductible because it is billed as after care for working parents!). I have also invited a good friend of mine to join the conversation. He wrote an unbeleivable curriculem for home schooling hebrew and religous school age kids.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on
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This is fascinating and wonderful on many levels. Like what I am thinking about, it serves a segment of the population that otherwise would not be attending Jewish Day school. So, do you know how many students attend the after school religious program? Also, when you say culture and history what are you referring to? I am VERY interested in seeing what your friend has written and was curious if he or anyone knows how many Jewish children are home schooled, as it is a growing number in the general population.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on
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As I was looking at the JESNA site yesterday I came across my idea:) here it is in some basic way, opening in New Jersey in the fall of 2011, http://www.pclcnj.com/
I think this so brilliant on many levels, not least of which is how they are organizing Tefilah....the students go every morning to the synagogue of their choice, thereby creating a meaningful connection with the community and assisting the local synagogues which usually have a difficult time finding a miyan. They are working with a common room and new technologies, which will create multi-aged learning groups and a great mini-mester created with the help of individual coaches. Take a look!
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Milder on
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Fascinating model. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Have you checked out Reggio Emilia? It's an early childhood approach to education that draws on children's interests in order to facilitate learning (an extremely pared-down version of a complex philosophy!) Here's one site to check out: http://www.brainy-child.com/article/reggioemilia.shtml. Even though Reggio is for 0 - 6 year olds, it seems like the approach might help you fill in some of the details of what you mean by child-centered, and project-based learning. I'd love to hear what you think.
Andrea RC Kasper said:As I was looking at the JESNA site yesterday I came across my idea:) here it is in some basic way, opening in New Jersey in the fall of 2011, http://www.pclcnj.com/
I think this so brilliant on many levels, not least of which is how they are organizing Tefilah....the students go every morning to the synagogue of their choice, thereby creating a meaningful connection with the community and assisting the local synagogues which usually have a difficult time finding a miyan. They are working with a common room and new technologies, which will create multi-aged learning groups and a great mini-mester created with the help of individual coaches. Take a look!
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on
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thank you Rebecca,
I am familiar with Reggio Emilia, my daughter was in such a school last year here in Iceland. It is a great method and keeps me wondering, why do we have a system that basically says to students" you will earn the right to learn about subjects you are interested, in the meantime, take these "vitamins"" So, everyone LOVES going to college because they finally have some agency in their learning...again it is why programs like Prozdor and Exploration at Wellseley College, and many others are so successful. So let's let our younger students have a say in their learning as well. We talk about it all the time, giving them ownership...but we don't really do it.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Milder on
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Andrea, It sounds like you're wrestling with the way that children learn - the relationship of student to teacher and the relationship of student to curriculum. Have you considered how one might integrate a child-centered curriculum with state standards? I believe it can be done, but it will require an extensive change in how teachers work with children and how we permit children to approach curriculum. I work with a group of academic administrators from day schools who are looking at Professional Learning Communities (http://www.allthingsplc.info/) as a way to re-envision the systems inside of our day schools. It's a long process of culture change for existing schools. PLCs might offer you some ways of strategizing how teachers work together to ensure an individualized experience for every child.
Andrea RC Kasper said:thank you Rebecca,
I am familiar with Reggio Emilia, my daughter was in such a school last year here in Iceland. It is a great method and keeps me wondering, why do we have a system that basically says to students" you will earn the right to learn about subjects you are interested, in the meantime, take these "vitamins"" So, everyone LOVES going to college because they finally have some agency in their learning...again it is why programs like Prozdor and Exploration at Wellseley College, and many others are so successful. So let's let our younger students have a say in their learning as well. We talk about it all the time, giving them ownership...but we don't really do it.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea RC Kasper on
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Hi, independant schools at least have some leeway when it comes to state standards which works in their favor. That said, it seems that the discourse in education these days is leaning toward skill building and away from content which opens the doors for our students to take the lead. They are drawn in or repelled by the content so it's a win-win. If a student learns to write or read critically do I actually care what it is they are writing about? We have to rethink the system for sure. Just as PLC recognizes the importance of educators coming together in order to share ideas/experiences to better enhance their teaching, so should students be encouraged to work with others, ALL the time, they will achieve more. What kills me is that the most successful management consulting firms in the country understand this (bring people together to get the most innovative and successful ideas) and yet we can't make meaningful change on the large scale of the same sort!
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